Drone Spying Just Cost Canada Women’s Soccer 6 Points in the Paris Olympics

FIFA is coming down laborious on Canada after assistant coaches for its Ladies’s Soccer workforce had been discovered utilizing drones to spy on New Zealand practices forward of their opening match on Thursday.

After New Zealand complained, the organizer of Olympic soccer tournaments and World Cup video games mentioned on Saturday that it’ll dock six factors from Canada Ladies’s Soccer and wonderful the Canadian Soccer Affiliation $226,000. FIFA additionally mentioned it would block assistant coaches Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, in addition to head coach Beverly Priestman, from taking part in soccer-related exercise for a full 12 months. Stories didn’t say what sort of drone was utilized by the assistant coaches.

In flip, the top of Canada’s Olympic Committee, David Shoemaker, mentioned Canada is “exploring choices to enchantment” the choice. Shoemaker singled out the six-point wonderful, calling it “excessively punitive in the direction of our Ladies’s Nationwide Staff gamers – who weren’t concerned in any unethical behaviour.”

Priestman has denied being conscious of the spy drones, per AP Information, however mentioned that, “no matter the main points, I’m in the end accountable.” Priestman oversaw Canada Ladies’s Soccer because it secured its first gold medal within the Tokyo Video games in 2021.